Transmuted
by fire-ignited
Summary: Katniss and Peeta had been restarting their lives in District 12, as lovers, until the Capitol does something to them that will change them for as long as they live. Katniss is turned into the Mockingjay, literally, as the Capitol grafts wings on her back, and Peeta becomes a shapeshifter, becoming animals of all different kinds. Troubled, they head to the Capitol to find out why.


PROLOGUE

When I wake, the other side of the bed is cold. I reach, seeking Peeta's warmth, but come up empty-handed. A groan from the other side of my bedroom brings me up on my elbows, and I see Peeta sitting in a chair, his head in his hands.

"Peeta?" I ask. If he is having a flashback, I should leave him alone, but this doesn't look like a flashback. Bare to the waist, his skin is covered in sweat, and his ashy-blonde hair sticks to his forehead. "What's wrong?"

"I...I don't know. It feels like there's a pain all over, and I…" He cries out again, tightening his fingers in his hair.

"Peeta!" I cry, jumping out of bed and running to him. He looks up at me with bloodshot blue eyes, and I can see how much pain he's in. I grab his hands in my own, and let him squeeze them, even though it hurts. His pain will be my pain as well. "Is it tracker jacker venom?" Peeta shakes his head, a globule of sweat streaking down his damp forehead.

"I...I don't think it's…" He gasps. "Venom. It feels...different."

"Different how?" I ask quietly, trying to keep his focus on me.

"It….physically hurts. Bad." He whimpers, dropping his head.

"Like how?" I ask, brushing his hair out of his forehead. Peeta is about to answer, when his entire body stiffens, and he collapses. "Peeta!" I yell, shaking him. "Peeta! Peeta?" I shake him again, and feel his pulse. He isn't dead, but his heartbeat is very slow. I slap his heart, and pull him off the chair and lay him on the floor. Just as I am about to do CPR, much like I memorized from Finnick, a pain ripples along my upper back. It's many times worse than the burns I suffered after Prim's death, and I scream as the pain overtakes my shoulders and lower back as well. I collapse on my stomach with my arms sprawled out at my sides, and my heart pounds like a drum. _What is going on? _I think to myself, unable to move because of the pain. It hurts so bad that I just want to die. To succumb to the pressure of the pain. To fall into the void. _It hurts…._ The pain is so intense that I slam my head into the ground until I black out.

1

When I wake the second time, I find myself still lying on the floor next to Peeta. I moan, and sit up, my entire body feeling stiff. Stretching my arms up, I glance down at Peeta. He is still laying on his back. I can clearly see him breathing, and the sheen of sweat has disappeared. As I stand up to get changed out of my night clothes, something on and in my back feels very, very wrong. I frown, and go to the mirror in our room to investigate. I take off my outer shirt, leaving me in a tank top, as I try to see what is going on. Turning around, I run my fingers along my neck. Feeling nothing but the raised lumps of burn scars, I continue down my neck. A soft substance, softer than my skin could ever be, startles me. I turn again, and I can barely see it in the mirror, but I know it's there. A large, feathery thing is lying against my back. I can see it, and feel it.

"Peeta?" I ask. He stirs, and sits up to face me.

"What?" He asks, slowly standing up. A little wobbly, he walks up to me. "Wait, what is this on your back?"

"I don't know!" I say. "I just woke up and saw it. It's feathery."

"Feathery." He mumbles. Peeta touches my back, and his brow furrows in confusion. "Can you move them? They seem to be attached to your back." He steps back, and I internally feel around my back using my muscles.

"Uh...Katniss?" Peeta says, and I can hear the uncertainty in his voice. "Y-you should look in the mirror." I clench my fists together at the tone of his voice, and I turn around slowly. When I look into the mirror, I don't believe what I see. Two dark-brown wings are stretched out on either side of me, and one of them is longer than my whole body. Peeta stands behind a wing, his mouth to the floor.

"I-" I sputter "I don't understand."

"Can you fly?" Peeta asks, his blue eyes light. No more of the pain-filled boy I saw last night exists. I jump up in the air, and flap my wings a small amount. I feel much, much lighter than I ever have before, and it feels amazing.

"Maybe." I say. "What about you? Do you have anything unique about you?" At this, Peeta's cheeks turn a bright shade of red. He turns around slowly, and to my surprise, a blonde wolf's tail peeks out above his pants. I recoil, and slam against the wall, my chest heaving. "A-are you a mutt?" I gasp, wincing as the pain I just inflicted on my wings begins to show.

"No!" He says, turning around again. "As a matter of fact, I feel very much like myself. It's so weird."

"Is is permanent?" I ask, reaching out to touch his tail. It feels much like his hair does, and I'm surprised at how much like a wolf's tail it is.

"I don't know."

"Are you a shapeshifter?" I ask.

"What? Katniss, be serious." Peeta says, turning around to face me.

"I am!" I yell. "If I can grow wings, and possibly fly, there is no doubt that you could be a shapeshifter. Can you try? Just focus on an image of one animal. It doesn't have to be a wolf." I say cautiously, knowing that if he turns into a wolf, he'll look like a mutt from the 74th Hunger Games, and I'll be a goner for sure. Peeta nods, rubbing his hands along his arms. He squeezes his eyes shut, and I can see him beginning to focus. All of the sudden, his humanly figure is gone, and when I look down, I see that he's taken the shape of a falcon. His feathers are the same color as his hair, with brown mixed in, and I see his eyes are still the same, blue.

"Peeta?" I ask. He tilts his head at me and opens his wings.

"What? Do I look different?" I scream as Peeta's voice comes from the bird's mouth, which I had no idea could happen.

"Y-you can talk while still in animal form?" I stutter.

"Apparently." He says. Peeta looks down at his form, and I see a smile form on his beak. "I'm a bird. I thought of a bird, and I turned into one." I take a deep breath.

"Turn into an iguana." I say. He shuts his eyes, and his bird form is gone, transformed into a blond-colored lizard. "Okay, we really need to test our...powers out. Get back into human form…" I say, then pause. "Yeah, get back into human form, and see if you still have your clothes on in between shapeshifting." Peeta shuts his eyes one final time, and he's back as his human self, with his clothes still on. I can't help going to him and wrapping my arms around him; I've missed his human form. He embraces me back, and presses a small kiss to my lips. When we pull away, I go to my closet and find an old shirt, leggings and my hunting boots. I grab a knife from my quiver and cut slits in the back of my shirt for my wings. After I get changed, and while Peeta is getting dressed, I try to fold my wings back. To my surprise, and pleasure, they fold back so well that you can't see them outside my shirt. I pull on my father's hunting jacket, and turn around to Peeta. He's dressed in his usual attire, and no sign of him just being a falcon or iguana is visible about him.

"Let's head to the woods." I say. He nods, and I grab my bow and full quiver from the closet. Swinging the quiver onto my back, I lead the way out of our room. We walk downstairs and out the door together. He shuts it and locks it behind us, and we begin our journey to my sanctuary, the woods I love so much.


End file.
